DALLAS (SMU) –  The SMU women's basketball program fought to the end on senior night but fell 88-63 to Notre Dame on Sunday inside Moody Coliseum.  

In the Mustangs' final home game of the season, SMU (9-19, 2-14 ACC) gave it its all, keeping the game close in the first half, but was unable to find consistent scoring against a stout second-half defensive performance from Notre Dame (18-9, 10-6 ACC).

The Mustangs trailed by only 10 points at the end of the first half as SMU made six of its nine three-pointers. SMU shot 39% from the floor and held the advantage on the boards, 37-33. Notre Dame shot 53% from the floor and scored 26 points off turnovers and 42 points in the paint to claim victory.

Zahra King recorded her sixth 20-point game of the season, scoring 23 points and going 5-of-8 from three-point range. King 40% from the floor and had three rebounds.

Ayanna Thompson finished one point away from tying her career scoring 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor. She was responsible for seven of SMU's 13 assists, a career high.  

Grace Hall ended her night with eight points and was 2-of-2 from downtown, while Sahnya Jah finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

The game was also senior night for the Mustangs as eight seniors were honored prior to tipoff: Ayanna Thompson, Tyi Skinner, Anaya Brown, Grace Hall, Kyla Deck, Jzaniya Harriel, Paulina Paris, and Miriam Ibezim.

The Mustangs grabbed the early lead, going up 5-0 after a three from Thompson to start the game. Notre Dame would respond with a 7-0 run of their own to retake the lead. King hit her first three of the game as both teams continued to trade buckets. SMU hit back-to-back threes before Notre Dame would go on a 14-2 run to extend their lead. King hit another three late in the quarter as the Mustangs trailed by nine at the end of one. SMU was 4-of-6 from three-point range in the quarter.

Hall hit another three early in the second to cut into the Notre Dame lead.  King took over in the second quarter, scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting to keep SMU in the game. The Mustangs got within six late in the quarter before Notre Dame pushed it back to 10 to end the half.  King had 15% points while the Mustangs went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc.

Notre Dame came out of the break on fire and went on a 17-2 run early in the quarter to flip the moment and take hold of the game.  Notre Outscored SMU 30-15 in the third and grabbed complete control of the game, leading by 25 at the end of the third. Scoring slowed down in the fourth as the Fighting Irish held on for the win. Hannah Hidalgo led all scorers with 31 points and 11 steals.

 
// UP NEXT
The Mustangs will close out the regular season on the West Coast, playing Stanford on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 9 pm CT, then facing California at 4 pm CT on Sunday, March 1, to finish the season. Both games will air on ACCNX.

// OTHER NOTES  

• In her first season at SMU, head coach Adia Barnes is now 9-19 and 178-133 overall in her career (10^th season).  

 
// STEALS / TURNOVERS 

• SMU ended the game with 6 steals.   
  • SMU entered the game ranked 3^rd in the ACC / 47^th in the NCAA in steals per game (10.4) 
• SMU has now totaled 287 steals this season.  
  • Entered the game 3^rd in the ACC in total steals.  
• SMU forced 11 turnovers 
  • SMU has now forced 477 turnovers this season  
    • Entered the game 7^th in the ACC in turnovers forced per game (17.2) and in 7^th in total turnovers forced.  

 
// FIELD GOAL PERCENT  

• SMU shot 39.7% from the field   
  • Zahra King was 9-22 from the floor in the game  
• King entered the game second among ACC guards in field goal percent (45.1%) and 9^th in the ACC overall.  
  • King also entered the game 12^th in the ACC in total points (397), and 13^th in points per game (14.7) 

 
// FREE THROWS  

• SMU was 8-11 from the line  

• Mustangs entered the game ranked 9^th in the ACC in free throw attempts per game (17.4) and 10^th in the ACC in free throws made per game (11.9).  

// BLOCKS  

• SMU had 2 blocks  
  • Entered the game 6^th in the ACC / 37^th in the NCAA in blocks per game (4.5)  
  • Brown entered the game ranked 6^th in the ACC in total blocks (40) and 6^th in the ACC in blocks per game (1.48).